The Music of Life

Biology beyond genes

Denis Noble

Tackles how biologists should seek to understand life itself. There are no simple answers, but this book is likely both to enchant and provoke the reader

This short, personal, and lyrical essay uses the metaphor of music to present a 'systems biology' view of life

Urges a change in the way we think about life - can be considered an equivalent to Erwin Schrodinger's classic 1944 essay 'What is Life?', for the post-human genome project age

With a foreword by the Nobel laureate and 'father' of systems biology, Sydney Brenner

The Music of Life

Biology beyond genes

Denis Noble

Description

What is Life? Decades of research have resulted in the full mapping of the human genome - three billion pairs of code whose functions are only now being understood. The gene's eye view of life, advocated by evolutionary biology, sees living bodies as mere vehicles for the replication of the genetic codes.

But for a physiologist, working with the living organism, the view is a very different one. Denis Noble is a world renowned physiologist, and sets out an alternative view to the question - one that becomes deeply significant in terms of the living, breathing organism. The genome is not life itself. Noble argues that far from genes building organisms, they should be seen as prisoners of the organism.

The view of life presented in this little, modern, post-genome project reflection on the nature of life, is that of the systems biologist: to understand what life is, we must view it at a variety of different levels, all interacting with each other in a complex web. It is that emergent web, full of feedback between levels, from the gene to the wider environment, that is life. It is a kind of music.

Including stories from Noble's own research experience, his work on the heartbeat, musical metaphors, and elements of linguistics and Chinese culture, this very personal and at times deeply lyrical book sets out thesystems biology view of life.

The Music of Life

Biology beyond genes

Denis Noble

Table of Contents

1: The CD of Life: the genome 2: The organ of 30,000 pipes 3: The Score: is it written down? 4: The Conductor: downward causation 5: The Rhythm Section: the heartbeat and other rhythms 6: The Orchestra: the organs and systems of the body 7: Modes and Keys: cellular harmony 8: The Composer: evolution 9: The Opera Theatre: the brain 10: Curtain Call: The artist disappears

The Music of Life

Biology beyond genes

Denis Noble

Author Information

Denis Noble, Emeritus Professor of Cardiovascular Physiology at the University of Oxford

The Music of Life

Biology beyond genes

Denis Noble

Reviews and Awards

Review from previous edition A beautifully written book... After the great successes of molecular biology, the time has come to re-assemble the organism. Denis Noble tells us why this needs to be done. He also tells us how we should go about it. Strongly recommended. - Sir Patrick Bateson, F.R.S., Emeritus Professor of Ethology, Cambridge